Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Identifytwomajorgeographicfeaturesthatservedasbarrierstothe
movementofpeople,goods,andideas.Identifytwofeaturesthatservedashighways.Explain
whyyoucategorizedeachfeatureasabarrierorhighway.
Twofeaturesthatservedasbarriersarerainforestsanddesert
Twofeaturesthatservedashighwaysareriversandsavannah
2.Basedonthemapabove,whichAfricankingdomcontrolledthelargestarea?Whatresources
didtheycontrol?Howdidgeographyaffecttheirkingdom?Songhaicontrolledthelargestarea.
Theycontrolledtheresourcesalt.Geographyaffectedtheirkingdombecausethereistheniger
riverriververyclose.AsWellasthecaravantraderoutes.
3.HowwouldyoudescribethelocationoftraderoutesinAfricaaccordingtothemapabove?
WhichkingdomcontrolledtheSandRoadsorcaravantraderoutes?AndtheSeaRoadsor
maritimetraderoutes?ThelocationofthetraderoutesisinwestAfrica.Thekingdomthat
controlledthemwasGhana.
ThelocationoftraderoutesinAfricaareinwestAfrica.Ghanacontrolledthecaravantrade
routes.
Readthefollowing,thenanswerthequestions.
TheSonghaiEmpireofNorthernAfricabrokeawayfromMaliin1335A.D.Withaskilled
armyandwelltrainedcavalry,thenewstatebegantoconqueritsneighbors.Atitspeak,the
empirestretchedfromtheSudanintheeasttotheSenegalRiverinthewestandthedesert
saltminesofTeghazainthenorth.TheempireswealthcamefromtheSaharantradeinsalt
andgold,whichcenteredoncitiessuchasTimbuktu.
Bythelatesixteenthcentury,theSonghaiEmpire,havingbecometoolargetocontrol
effectively,wentintodecline.OtherstatesbegantoinfringeontheSaharantradeandmilitary
invasionssoonpushedtheSonghaitoalimitedareaalongtheNigerRiver.Althoughthe
Songhaipeoplewereabletokeeptheirownrulersandcontinuetheirtraditionalwayoflife,their
economicandmilitarypowerhadbeenpermanentlybroken.
4.WherewouldyoubemostlikelytofindmoderndescendantsoftheSonghai?
a. intheSudan
b. alongtheNileRiver
c. alongtheNigerRiver
d. inSouthAfrica
5.Accordingtothepassage,whydidtheSonghaiEmpirestarttodecline?
a. ItwasconqueredbyMali.
b. Itranoutofsaltandgold.
c. Itsleadersbecamecorruptedbytheirwealth.
d. Itbecametoolargetocontroleffectively.
6.WhichofthefollowinggroupswasmostlikelytobevaluedhighlyinSonghaisociety?
a. farmers
b. traders
c. storytellers
d. artisans
7.Whichwordinthesecondparagraphindicateschange?
a. although
b. soon
c. continue
d. having
ReadthefollowingexcerptfromSundiata:AnEpicofOldMali,byDjibrilTamsirNiane.Then
answerthequestionsthatfollow.
Sogolonsson[Sundiata]hadaslowanddifficultchildhood.Attheageofthreehestill
crawledalongonallfourswhilechildrenofthesameagewerealreadywalking.Hehadnothing
ofthegreatbeautyofhisfatherNarMaghan.Hehadaheadsobigthatheseemedunableto
supportithealsohadlargeeyeswhichwouldopenwidewheneveranyoneenteredhis
mothershouse.Hewastaciturn[nottalkative]andusedtospendthewholedayjustsittingin
themiddleofthehouse....
OnedayNarMaghanmadeMariDjata[Sundiata]cometohimandhespoketothe
childasonespeakstoanadult....IamgrowingoldandsoonIshallbenomoreamongyou,
butbeforedeathtakesmeoffIamgoingtogiveyouthepresenteachkinggiveshissuccessor.
InMalieveryprincehashisowngriot....BallaFasskhere,willbeyourgriot.Beinseparable
friendsfromthisdayforward.Fromhismouthyouwillhearthehistoryofyourancestors,you
willlearntheartofgoverningMaliaccordingtotheprincipleswhichourancestorshave
bequeathed[handeddown]tous.Ihaveservedmytermanddonemydutytoo.Ihavedone
everythingwhichakingofMalioughttodo.Iamhandinganenlargedkingdomovertoyouand
Ileaveyousureallies.Mayyourdestinybeaccomplished.
8.WhatdifficultiesdidSundiatahaveasachild?
9.WhydidNarMaghangivehissonagriot?
10.AccordingtoNarMaghan,whatwasSundiatasdestiny?